Truck-dumping mechanism



C. L. TRAPP. TRUCK DUMPING MECHANISM. APPLlcATloN FILED FEB. 12. |919.

C. L. TRAPP. TRUCK DUIVIPING MECHANISM. APPLICATION FILED FEB.12,1919.

v 3335008'7. Patented Aug. 17, 1920.

2 SHEES-SHEE'I Z.

@Woznm UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES L. TRAPP, OF SOI-IUYLER, NEBRASKA, ASSIGNOR, BY DIRECT AND MESNEASSIGNMENTS, F ONE-FOURTH TO GROVER C. DONOVAN, OF SCHUYLER,

NEBRASKA, AND ONE-FOURTH'TO LOUIS W. G01-IR, OF OMAHA, NEBRASKA.

TRUCK-DUMPING MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented A1102 17, 1920.

To all whom it may concer/n:

Be it known that 1 CHARLES L. TRAPP, a citizen of the United States,residin at Schuyler, in the county of Colfax and State 5 of Nebraska,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in i T ruck-DumpingMechanisms, of which the following is' a specification, reference beinghad to the ac-, companying drawings.

This invention relates to unloading apparatus, and particularly tomechanism for dumping trucks orY other vehicles containing granularmaterial.

The general object of this invention is to provide means whereby a truckcontaining grain or the like. may be readily discharged or dumped bylifting the forward end of the truck.

And a furtherobject in this connection'is for thisl purpose. A

Another object is to provide a-constructin vof this character whereinonly the forward end of the .truck is lifted and the forward wheels restupon a horizontal platform, while the rear wheels also rest upon ahorizontal platform so that when the forward end of the'truck is lifted,the truck will not tendy to run backward.

A further object is to provide very simple and effective means forlifting the forward platform which supports the forward wheels of thetruck, and provide means whereby the power may be equally distributed toall four corners of the platform.

till another object is to provide a construction of this kind whereinthe platformmay be raised by the action of compressed air and readilycontrolled.

@ther objects will appear in the course of the following description. n

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein z-Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical section o. .5. V Fig. 5 is asectiona view of the control to provide very simple and effective meansy of a truck dumping mechanism constructed:

ling valve used in the construction illustrated in Figs. l and 2;

Fig. 6 is a like view to Fig. 3, but showing a riodified powertransmission mechanism; an

Fig. 7 is a section on the line 7-7 of 50 Fig. 6.

Referring to these drawings, and particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, it willbe seen that my dumping mechanism includes a truck supporting structureformed to provide a frame and designated generally 10, upon which isdisposed the platform 11. This platform is fixed and is assumed to be atthe ground level so that the truck may drive directly upon the platform.At the rear of the platform is a downwardly extending chute 12, theopening of which may be closed by a door 13, this door then being flushwith the platform 11. This chute'leadsto. any point of discharge. Theplatform Il is cut away at 14, and operating in this cut-away portion 14is av movable platform 15 which is designed to support the front wheelsof the truck and lift these front wheels when the platform is elevated.Itwill be seen from Fig. 2 that the platform is cut away at 16 at itsrear edge to accommodate the motor or transmission gear of the truck'and permit this motor or transmission gear to clear the edge of theplatform. This platform is mounted upon a plurality of vertical members1T, and the verticalmembers on oppositey sides of the platform ,havingteeth l' 18 confronting each other. l Shafts 19 extend through thesupporting beams 2O of the frame and carry upon them the intermeshinggear wheels 21 having the same diam eter.

l desire that this platform 15 shall be raised either by air pressure orpurely me chanicalmeans, and in Figs. 1 to 3 I show the platform asbeing raised by a piston rod 20 having a piston 21 operating within acylinder 22. rThis cylinder is connected by a pipe 23 to a storage tank2Liwherein com- 100 pressed air is stored `and this st t -l m, in turn,connected. by pipe 25 to an air cornpressor'25. Thisv air compressor 2Giight be connected directly to e pipe 23 or env other means may be usedit within the tank 2li., or liquid pump might be liquid into thecylinder H gto be limited" to any particular means for this purpose. Thepipe 23 preferably extends 'up above the platform 11 to any convenientheight and is there provided witha valve 27 which, as illustrated in Fig. 5, is a three-way valve coacting with a casing 28 having oppositelydisposed ports communi-- eating with the pipe line 23 and -also havingan exhaust port 29. When this valve is turned in oneposition,'communication will be established through the valve betweenthe compressed air, tank 24 and the cylinder 22. When the valve isturned in another position, however, communication will ,be establishedbetween the cylinder 22 and the exhaust port 29 so. as to .discharge airfrom the cylinder. Thus, when the valve is turned in one position, airwill pass through the tank 241 into the cylinder 22 and act to lift thepiston, the rate of elevation being dependent upon the degree to whichthe-ol` valve 27 is opened. If it is desired to lowerJ the platform,then the valve is turned to connect the cylinder with the exhaust port,and

`the rate of descent of the platform will de-- pend .upon the extent ofopening of the. valve.I The intermeshing gear wheels 21 acting upon thecorner members 17 prevent any tipping or unsteadiness of the platform 15so that all four corners of the platform will rise together and lowertogether.

- As before stated, I do not wish to 4limit myself to al constructionwherein the piston rod 20 is connected directly to the platform 15,'asit is within thel purview of my inven-l` tion to otherwise communicatepower to the platform from a compressed air tank. Thus, in Fig. 6 Tshowl the platform 15 as being raised by gear wheels 21a which arerotated by power derived from compressed air. Thus, upon'one of theshafts 30 upon which these gear wheels 21 are mounted, may moint apinion 31 and provide a rack 32 mounted upon a piston 20a operatingwithin the `cylinder 22a. This rack 32 is provided with a yoke 33 whichextends over the gear wheel 31 so as to prevent the rack from be- 'avalve as that shown in Fig. 5.

coming disengaged from the gear wheel. `The cylinder 22fL is, of course,connected by means of the pipe 23a toithe source of compressed air orother fluid. lt will be obvious that the operation ofthis form of myconstruction is precisely the same as heretofore described, the outletand inlet of the operating fluid being controlled by such tended, as at34, so that it may be connected to any suitable source of power. I havenot illustrated any means of connecting the motor to this shaft andproviding for a direct or reverse movement of `the shaft, as it will beobvious that this may be accomplished by many transmission gearscommonly used today, as, for instance, a reversible friction drive, orby the provision of ay multiplying gear, this shaft may `be yrotated byhand to thus elevate or lower the platform 15 by hand.

Tt will be seen that in all forms of my construction the platform 15 issupported or carries at its corners the vertical members 17 providedwith racks, and that these vertical members 17 operate in guides 35.

Tt will be noted that the front end of the truck is elevated withperfect safety, owing to the fact that both the lfront and'y rear wheelsstand on level platforms and, therefore, in order for the truck to runbackward, itwill be necessary for the front wheels to move at an angleto the plane of the'bottom of the truck, or inffiifffect, run at anupward inclination relative` to the bottom of the truck. The same istrueof the rear wheels, and thus the truck will remain perfectly steadywhile the platform 15is being elevated or lowered. Tt cannot movebackward, as the truck must pull against its'own weight in order to doso. The platform 11 with the platform 15 is made large enough to receiveanylength of auto truck and at the same vtime deliver the grain at thechute'12. In the construction illustrated in ll ig. 6, the gear wheelconnecting immediately with the rack 32 is much smaller than the gearwheels 21a, thus increasing the `power and making it possible to use amuch shorter piston and air cylinder, than where convenient. The loadycan be raised to any desired angle and'held at any height bythemanipulation of the control valve 27. The load can be elevated orlowered at any desired speed, eliminating any possible" jar which mightbe injurious' to the truck or engine, and this unloading mechanism canbe used and operated without interference with any ordinary wagon dumpused in connection therewith. The platformbecause4 of the four gearwheels engaging with the four racks 17, must rest on a level at alltimes regardless of the .position of the load thereon, whether in thecenter or at one side of the platform. @f course, it will be obviousthat the details of this construction may be modified in many wayswithout departin1 from the spirit of the invention. Y

he dotted lines, indicated on the upper face of the platform in F ig. 2,indicate the Elli@ positionpof the dump logs commonly used for dumpingfarm wagons and are designed to show that this dumping mechanism may beinstalled without interfering with the usual manner of dumping farmwagons.

I claim u Y 1. A dumping mechanism comprising a fixedI truck supportingplatform, a horizontal, vertically movable platform coacting therewith.and adapted to support the forward wheels of the truck, said movableplatform having downwardly extending guiding rack bars at its fourcorners, intermeshing gear wheels engaging said rack bars, and poweroperated means for raising or lowering the movable platform.

2. A dumping apparatus including a fixed truck supporting platform, avertically movable platform coactingtherewith Aand adapted to supportthe forward wheels of the truck, downwardly extendingvrack barsconnected to the corners of the movable platform, vertical guides inwhich said rack bars move, transverse shafts disposed below theplatform, two pairs of intermeshing gear wheels mounted upon said shaftsto rotate therewith and engaging said racks, and power operated meansfor raising or lowering the platform.

3. A vehicle dumping mechanism including a fixed truck carrying platformand having a discharge opening, a horizontal, vertically movableplatform coacting therewith and forming part thereof, normally lyingflush with the fixed `platform and adapted to support the forward wheelsof a truck, guiding racks depending from the corners of the movableplatform, guides in which said racks move, transverse shafts disposedbelow the movable platform and having gear wheels engaging said racksand intermeshing with each other, a cylinder, a piston operatingtherein, the cylinder being lconnected4 to a source of fluid underpressure, manually operated means for controlling the passage of fluidfrom and to the cylinder, and means for transmitting power from thepiston to said movable platform to cause it to raise or lower.

4. A vehicle dumping mechanism including a fixed elevated.v truckcarrying platform, a movable lplatform coacting therewith and formingpart thereof normally lying` flush therewith and relatively remote fromthe discharge opening, guiding, racks depending from the corners of themovable platform, guides in which said racks move, transverse shaftsdisposed below the platform and having gear wheels engaging said racksand intermeshing with each other, a cylinder, a piston` operatingtherein, the cylinder being connected to a source of iuid underpressure, 'manually operated means for controlling the passage of fluidfrom and to the cylinder, and mians for transmitting power from thepiston to said movable platform to cause it to raise or lower, andincluding a gear wheel mounted upon one of said shafts, and a rackengaging said gear wheel and connected to the piston.

5. A vehicle dumping mechanism of the character described including afixed, relatively elevated platform having a discharge opening and cutaway at a point relatively remote from the discharge opening, a movableplatform fitting said cut away portion and adapted to be disposed flushtherewith or raised with relation thereto, guiding In testimony whereofI hereunto aliix my,

signature in the presence of two witnesses.

\ CHAR-LES L. TRAPP.

lVitnesses:

Gro. W. VERTZ,

FLORENCE M. SLATER.

